Slight Stumble

So I did achieve two days of research and writing after my last post.  It fell apart last night, not out of desire, but out of having too much shit to do and needing to go to bed early.  I failed on the early bedtime miserably, but had I stayed up to write anything I would have failed even more dramatically.

What was I doing, you ask?  (Ok, maybe you don't ask, but as this is my blog, I shall tell you whether you wish to hear it or not)  Because we celebrate both Xmas Eve and Xmas Day (I don't go in for the whole Christ bit, sorry), I needed to get some presents sorted.  This meant cooking, and I didn't have a chance to get into the kitchen until after supper last night.  As Adam and Ms. Luther and her husband will tell you, suppers at my house are a long, involved, and drawn-out affair.  So about 8pm I finally was able to start making reheatable lasangas and other casseroles for my grandparents.  Both my paternal grandmother and my maternal grandparents are in the mid-to-late eighties, so they neither need nor want much of anything.  However, they do still need to eat, and age makes it difficult for them to cook.  So I make nice tasty reheatable foods for them on a semi-regular basis.  That took me up until about 10pm, when I then had to take a shower.

As for why I had to get to sleep early?  Well, I had to get up early.  If you don't already know why I have to get up at 5:30am on Tuesdays, check this out.  Faith is my personal favorite (she's mine! and there was an outbreak of kennel cough that week), but Noah was also fantastic.  And Abby.  But I like pitbulls :)

New Goal

So I have a new goal for myself. If I want to be a writer (which is of course the question, but at least it's something I'm good at), I need to write. Daily. So that is my new goal. It may be here on my blog (presuming it does involve actual thought and/or substance), a newsy email to friends, or in one of my journals--you know, the kind with pen and paper--that I have to jot down ideas that float into my head.

Note-taking for my historical fiction novel doesn't count. If that counted I'd not write any of my own thoughts, and would be only barely researching. The research would be so much nicer if they actually knew anything about my guy's childhood. There's plenty written about the last 2-10 years of his life, but nothing prior to that. And most of the last bit of his life is speculation. Yay, speculation! But then, that's why it's such a delicious choice for a historical fiction. I hope to be fairly heavy on the history (we'll see, and I want it non-dry). The last historical fiction I read was heavy on the sex, violence, and easy-outs on difficult character arcs (as in the author killed off everyone who was in the way of the ending he wanted), and rather light and/or boring on the history. I do not want to be like that. But then, sex sells. So does violence. Violence can be provided in spades for my character though :)

As for why I don't wish to say what I'm writing about, well, I want to cover myself for the future. If you're curious, ask me and I will most likely share. Tisn't a state secret, just don't want it on the 'net.

So yes, digressions aside, I'm making a public contract with myself to write daily. Acceptable approaches for daily writing include writing down first lines for a story (or other parts), or writing an essay or part of an essay. Character studies count. Notes for ideas of a world or plot outline for fiction counts. Short stories count (though perhaps only to a point, as I have a series of those in my head, but I need to get some other stuff written). And though I say blog posts can count, I would like those to be in addition to my daily writing, not a cop-out in lieu of writing. Ditto emails and other correspondence (like that holiday card I need to send to Jay and Abby...)

I both thank and blame David Seal for this.  And really, that may be a story in-and-of itself... Remember ladies and gents, it isn't slander or libel if it's true.  And that goes for both parties.

Winter Wonderland

And of course, no winter wonderland would be complete without idiot drivers who think that 4x4 means they can drive fast on ultra-packed snow. But I digress.

It's less pretty here than it was late Sunday night and yesterday morning, but it's still kinda pretty, and there's more snow predicted for tomorrow. The puppy is having fun in the snow, though she seemed to have more fun last year. But if it snows again tomorrow, it'll be deeper and she'll probably enjoy that more. For some reason she really likes having to work to get through it. I think it might be the pit bull and rottweiler in her--she liked using her chest to push through it. And to be fair, we like it when she has to work harder, since it means she burns off more energy.







And from last year's snowfall, possibly's Faith's first snow. Certainly her first winter with us.

Safe and Sound Part II

So Adam has safely made it back to the UK. I'm glad his journey back home was easier than the one to get here, but I still miss him terribly. But we did have a good time while he was here, and lots of talks about the future, our finances, and so forth. We still don't have much of anything set in stone, but the current hope is that I will be heading out there in a couple of months.

I'm not really sure there's much other news, other than I saw a friend of my from elementary and high school a couple of days after Thanksgiving. Adam and I were walking Faith, and making loud, pointed comments to people who let their dogs shit in public and not clean it up (that's a $180 fine here in Lane County, Oregon, by the way), and we ended up in the new park that's been put in near my house. I saw a guy with a dog--who wasn't pooing--and he looked really familiar; it turned out it was my friend Shelley's father. So I talked to him for a bit, as well as her sister Kelsey (who has a cute guy), and then Rhonda (Shelley's mom) came over because Dale wasn't interested in watching his grandson (!!!) swing for the first time. Turns out that not only is Shelley married, which I did know, but she had a baby boy back in July. And she's already lost all her baby weight. Always had a freakishly high metabolism, though. She's also eating meat again, which I was somewhat glad to hear. Not for any reason other than it's probably healthier for her and the baby right now.

In general, it was really great to see her. We really haven't seen each other or spoken since we graduated from high school, so it was nice to reconnect--and to find out that she didn't go to our 10 year reunion either (nor did another friend, who was past her due date at that point). Hopefully we'll all end up at our 20 year reunion. But we've got 10 more years for that, so no point in worrying about it right now :)

Safe and Sound...ish...

The boy has made it here, and we are currently in bed. I'm bored, he's snoring. He's had a 40 hour day or something ungodly (he got up Thursday, went to work, home, no nap, and left for the airport about midnight UK time). It was probably 6pm PST before he fell asleep, so that's about 40 hours.

So for supper I ended up walking over to McDonalds, which is about 20 feet from the hotel. Then I walked back to my car, because the lobby was closed due to construction (I think lack of staff, actually...there was nothing going on in there) and you can't do a drive-thru (the proper spelling looks wrong there) on foot--particularly as I almost got hit by 2 cars trying.

In short, I drove about 1/4 mile to get food from a place less than 50 feet away. And for shitty food.

Speaking of, I actually feel slightly ill. But then that's why I only eat McDonalds once every 3 years or so--seriously, the last time I had Micky D's I was living in England. Think I had one there...if not, I really don't know when last I ate there.